Connelly: House OK's stepped up traffic camera enforcement in Seattle

Drivers, stay out of transit lanes and crosswalks. Under a bill moving through the Legislature, the automatic traffic enforcement cameras are coming, and you will face a (present) $136 fine. Half the money will go to the state.

Drivers, stay out of transit lanes and crosswalks. Under a bill moving through the Legislature, the automatic traffic enforcement cameras are coming, and you will face a (present) $136 fine. Half the money

Drivers, stay out of transit lanes and crosswalks. Under a bill moving through the Legislature, the automatic traffic enforcement cameras are coming, and you will face a (present) $136 fine. Half the money will go to the state.

Drivers, stay out of transit lanes and crosswalks. Under a bill moving through the Legislature, the automatic traffic enforcement cameras are coming, and you will face a (present) $136 fine. Half the money

A "Block the Box" bill, allowing Seattle to use automated traffic cameras to slap a $136 fine on drivers who violate crosswalks and stray into bus-only lanes, passed the state House of Representatives Monday night on a 57-41 party line vote.

The camera snooping bill must still pass the State Senate, but House action was cheered by Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan.

"As we tackle the Seattle Squeeze together and keep building a city of the future, this is a long overdue step in helping ensure transit, people and goods can move through our city quickly and safely," Durkan said in a statement.

The deployment of cameras will "free up resources to allow Seattle Police Department officers to address other public safety needs in our city and reduce the significant risks they face when enforcing our traffic laws," added Her Worship.

The legislation adds transit lane violations and crosswalk blocking to the list of violations for which the city can deploy automated cameras. The cameras could also be used to catch drivers impeding the ability of passengers to board buses.

The cameras would be restricted to streets going in and out of downtown like Pine and Pike streets.

Half of the money from fines would go to the state.

Implementation would begin with a grace period through the remainder of 2019, in which those caught would be warned but not ticketed. Drivers caught by the cameras would get a warning at first violation, then be hit with a violation, which currently costs $136.

The city already deploys traffic cameras at some red lights and near schools. Many a Madrona and Mt. Baker resident has been caught going southbound where Martin Luther King Boulevard goes by Thurgood Marshall Elementary School. The city's media had to brave a traffic camera on Rainier Avenue, returning from Durkan's 2018 State of the City speech at Rainier Beach High School.

The Seattle City Council lobbied for the traffic camera legislation, saying in a letter to the Legislature:

"Our 2017 surveillance ordinance was carefully crafted and stands as an example of our respect for both privacy and transparency."

State House Republicans opposed the measure. Out-of-town motorists will be vulnerable, especially given Seattle's "shoddy road conditions and confusing street signage," said State Rep. Jim Walsh, R-Aberdeen.

Walsh has a point. Seattle can be -- is -- confusing.

Motorists headed into downtown on Pine Street use a center lane. The right lane is reserved for transit. Just before 5th Avenue, however, the center lane becomes a left-turn-only lane. The transit lane ends, but motorists have little room to legally move right.

Another infamous source of confusion is Battery Street, where traffic turning right onto Aurora must cross a transit lane. The markings at the intersection are as confusing at Hillary Clinton's 1990's-era health plan.

As well, motorists face government-created obstacles.

The Seattle Department of Transportation, during its 23rd Avenue rebuild, failed to erect detour and warning signs on two weekends when it blocked the much-used 23rd & Union intersection. Twice, last year, southbound traffic on Boren was detoured onto Howell, but not told where it should go.